[Extract …] In 1870, when Queen Victoria’s son Alfred visited Colombo, Ceylon, Charles Henry de Soysa, a philanthropist and entrepreneur, hosted the royal banquet. It was held at his mansion, Bagatelle House, in the elite suburb of Colombo – Cinnamon Gardens. The name of the house was later changed to “Alfred House” in honor of the royal visitor, while the gold plate, cup and jeweled cutlery used by the prince were handed down in that family for generations. The event was controversial because the British had picked a social upstart from the insignificant Karave (fisher caste), and offered him the greatest honor possible under their administration. It was most disturbing to the Govigama (farmer caste), who, being the established feudal elite, represented and took part in the administration of the indigenous population. Although the Govigama clans were invited to the banquet, they were not offered places at the prince’s table. The description of the banquet, the decoration of the streets, and the entertainment provided in the house and garden were detailed in a family history, the De Soysa Charitaya by Don Bastian (who was commissioned to write it in 1904).1 It was an effort by the Karave caste to assert their social position among the Sinhalese by extolling the virtues of its leaders and illustrating their prowess. The tale, retold, gathered apocryphal data and attempted to assert Karave authority by exploiting themes familiar to the Sinhalese caste system. Who was this “Charles de Soysa” and how had he gained such enviable social status?

The opportunity for such self-aggrandizement by an otherwise marginal caste occurred because of the meteoric rise of the Karave within the colonial social structure. The individualistic structure of the market economy under British administration (1815–1948) had animated the commercial opportunism of specific indigenous caste groups who readily invested in colonial opportunities, particularly in trade and plantations.2 Previously marginalized by the rigid indigenous corvée system, these castes had converted easily to Christianity (predominantly Catholicism), allied themselves with British industries, and found opportunities for social mobility based on numerous creative affiliations.3 Whereas groups of subcontinental migrants had always assimilated at the periphery of the island’s caste system, colonial enterprise carved economic and social tributaries that opened up its new administration to subsequent generations. Marginality proved advantageous, giving them the freedom to negotiate their identities and move easily across the binaries of the colonial predicament. Yet it was also precarious, marking them as opportunists who had conceded to an anglicized value system by concealing their own insecurities. The ambivalence of their stance between colonial and national loyalties was, interestingly, embodied in their mode of dress, “the trouser under the cloth,” which was prescribed to them by the colonial administration.

• 1. Don Bastian, De Soysa Charitaya, Sinhalese edn, Colombo: Daily News Press, 1904. (English edition by V. S. M. de Mel, The De Soysa Saga, Colombo: Thisara Press, 1986.)
• 2. Ceylon’s colonial period included Portuguese (1505–1656), Dutch (1656–1796) and British (1815–1948).
• 3. The corvée system organized society according to the service provided to the king. It was known to the Sinhalese as Rajakariya. Under the British, a plantation industry for the large-scale production of tea, rubber and coconut transformed the local economy.